Historical Sketch:
Cols., Conrad F. Jackson, Robert Anderson; Lieut.-Cols., Robert Anderson, J. McK. Snodgrass; Majs., J. McK. Snodgrass, Charles Barnes. The 38th, or the 9th reserve, was composed of eight companies from Allegheny county, one from Crawford and one from Beaver. It was organized at Camp Wright, near Pittsburg, and left there on July 22 for Washington, where it was mustered into the U. S. service for a three years' term on the 28th. On Aug. 5, it was sent to Tennallytown ; was assigned to picket duty at Great Falls for a week in September; went into winter quarters at Langley, and was attached to the 3d brigade of the reserve corps under Col. John S. McCalmont. This brigade, under Gen. Ord, won its first battle at Dranesville, where Ord recommended 71 officers and men of the 38th "For reward for their gallant conduct." On Mar. 15, 1862, the regiment left Langley, joined the army on the Peninsula, took part in the battles of Mechanicsville, Gaines' mill and Glendale, losing heavily. After a most fatiguing march the division joined Gen. Pope's army and participated in the second battle of Bull Run. It was then with Gen. McClellan at Antietam, where Samuel Johnson of Co. G captured the flag of the Texan Rangers, for which he was awarded a medal of honor. At Fredericksburg, Gen. Jackson, the first colonel of the regiment, commanding the brigade, was mortally wounded. Soon after this battle the reserves were ordered to Washington to rest and recruit and in June, 1863, the 1st and 3d brigades were assigned to the 5th corps. Gen. Sykes took command and the division fought vahantly at Gettysburg, many of the men near their own homes. The regiment joined in the pursuit of the enemy and the movements of the Army of the Potomac during the summer and the Mine Run campaign. At the beginning of the battle of the Wilderness, May 4, 1864, it was relieved and returned to Washington. It left at once for home and was mustered out at Pittsburg, May 13, 1864, when the veterans and recruits were transferred to the 190th Pa. infantry.
Roster:
The Roster of this unit contains the names of 1783 men. Source:
The Union Army by Federal Publishing Company, 1908 - Volume 1 Bibliography:
Barcousky, Len. Civil War Pittsburgh: Forge of the Union. Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, 2013. ISBN 9781626190818.
Blair, William and William Pencak, editors. Making and Remaking Pennsylvania's Civil War. University Park, Pennsylvania: Penn State University Press, 2004.
Fox, Arthur B. Our Honored Dead: Alleghany County, Pennsylvania, in the American Civil War. Chicora, Pennsylvania: Mechling Bookbindery, 2008.
Fox, Arthur B. Pittsburgh During the American Civil War 1860–1865. Chicora, Pennsylvania: Mechling Bookbindery, 2002.
Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce. Southern Revenge: Civil War History of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Chambersburg, Pennsylvania: Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce, 1989.
Miller, William J. The Training of an Army: Camp Curtin and the North's Civil War. Shippensburg, Pennsylvania: White Mane, 1990.
Sandou, Robert M. Deserter County: Civil War Opposition in the Pennsylvania Appalachians. Fordham University Press, 2009.
Skinner, George W., ed. Pennsylvania at Chickamauga and Chattanooga: Ceremonies at the Dedication of the Monuments Erected by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Wm. Stanley Ray, State Printer, 1897.
Taylor, Frank H. Philadelphia in the Civil War. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The City, 1913.
Wingert, Cooper H. Harrisburg and the Civil War: Defending the Keystone of the Union. Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press, 2013. ISBN 9781626190412.
Young, Ronald C. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in the Civil War. Lancaster, Pennsylvania: published by the author, 2003.
Historical Sketch: